BRUSSELS, March 17. /TASS/. The increase in the share of renewable energy sources in the European Union, the community abandoning coal amid rising gas prices in Europe due to problems with supplies from Russia have led to gas becoming the main determinant of electricity prices in the EU, Euractiv reported with reference to the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).
"Even though gas consumption in the European Union has been dropping, the fossil fuel continues to heavily determine electricity prices in Europe as coal-fired power plants are being phased out, EU watchdog ACER has found. Last year, the EU consumed 24 TWh less natural gas than in 2023. But even though the share of power produced by burning gas dropped to 14%, down from 18% back in 2020, natural gas prices continue to set power prices 40% of the time, as per ACER’s annual monitoring report," Euractiv stated.
The move away from coal has "reduced competition among conventional power sources, limiting the ability to switch between coal and gas", which is especially true in the evening hours, when demand is high and renewables provide little capacity, the report said, adding "In 2019, electricity from gas turbines sold for 49 euro per MWh on average. Last year, it sold for 104 euro per MWh."
It was reported earlier, the EU did not impose sanctions against Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in February, despite growing pressure from member states. Brussels hopes to reach a preliminary agreement with Washington on supplies of US LNG. At the same time, the EU postponed the publication of the so-called roadmap for abandoning Russian energy sources.